The Court of Cassation rejected the claim of Ingush police officers fired after refusing to disperse a rally in Magas

The police were fired for “committing an offense discrediting the honor of a police officer” after they refused to disperse protesters in Magas in March 2019. In addition, a criminal case was opened under Part 2 of Article 286.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (failure to comply with an order). According to the official version, the police intervened in the actions of the National Guard and did not allow the protesters to be forced out of the square.

On March 26-27, 2019, a rally was held in Magas against amendments to the referendum law, which relate to changes in the borders and status of Ingushetia. The protests began after the heads of Chechnya and Ingushetia signed an agreement in September 2018 to secure the border between the regions.

The border has not been clearly established since the collapse of the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991. According to the agreement, the regions carried out an “equivalent exchange of non-residential territories” in the Nadterechny district of Chechnya and the Malgobek district of Ingushetia.